Just breathtaking, isn't it?

Here's a shot of Lake Diablo, in the Cascade Mountains, in Washington State. We drove through there yesterday, and it was just gorgeous, so I had to share, which means braving not only a lap top (I suck at the touchpad mouse!), but also a MacBook Pro, instead of a PC. I feel like I am operating in alien territory! I may have more to report later, if I can master this thing. *grin*

My parents are so cool!

Part of the reason why my parents are cool is that they've always been active & engaged in interesting activities. My whole family has a bent towards being productive & when I spend time with them, I get even more productive than I usually am!

My dad's always had a techno-scientific bent, & most recently he's been enjoying reading books from the late 1800's ... on physics! I'm just thrilled that he's been reading, because he's had some significant eye problems that sometimes leave him unable to see for days or weeks! Here he is, this weekend, mixing up a batch of copper sulfate ... just another science experiment he's whipped up to do with granddaughter Lauren!My mom's talents lie in other areas, and for the last 30+ years, she's been quilting. She makes a baby quilt for each baby that enters the extended family & makes each of us a quilt at some point in our lives. I actually own 5 quilts that she's worked on ... a Sunbonnet Sue she made for me as a child, with my in put ... the very first patchwork quilt she made in college in the early '60s ... a quilt she made for her parents with her own appliqued childhood memories ... a blue quilt of my own design which I pieced and she quilted ... and a double wedding ring wall hanging that again I pieced and she quilted. The quilt below is in "final production," and is destined for the aforementioned granddaughter Lauren, who has contributed some input as well, just as I did for my Sunbonnet Sue!

I count myself extraordinarily blessed to have such awesome parents. They are just amazing people & my life has been made more rich by their presence!

I think we may be out of the woods, now!

Between one friend loaning us a steam cleaner & 2 other friends loaning us their dehumidifier, I think we may have resolved the after-math of the small flood issue we had! I am so very happy! I am going to do a scrapbook layout with all of the equipment we borrowed from our amazing friends to document how they came together to help us out!

Stinky!!!

We finished sucking up the water with the shop vac yesterday around 2 pm; it just wouldn't suck up any more. I sopped up some more out of the carpet with 8 bath towels, then washed & dried 'em. And I put out 2 containers of Damp Rid, which have yet to do anything. And now it's starting to stink downstairs. Our friends next door are going to loan us their dehumidifier for a day to see if that helps ... but aside from that, I'm kind of at a loss as to what else to do, other than call a carpet cleaning service & have them come clean right away, and suck up our nasty-damp smell along with cleaning the rest of the carpet! I'll see how well the humidifier does overnight ... and then decide tomorrow what the next step is!

Who knows what THIS photo means?

hint: read yesterday's post.

Rain, rain ... go away!!!

It's been raining pretty much nonstop for about 48 hours & our poor backyard is getting awfully soupy!!! It stopped raining about 3 hours ago & we're supposed to have only a 30% chance of rain overnight ... thank goodness! Lots of roadways are water-logged, and city departments have put up lots of barricades, caution cones, and warning signs!The good thing is that the zinnias are getting lots and lots of water. I don't think I'll need to water any of our plants for at least a week! Everything is quite saturated & the sump pump is working hard to keep water out of our basement. I've heard from a number of people in the area that their basements are beginning to flood ... it's not over yet!

I love zinnias!

I've rarely had a problem growing them from seed, and each one is a little surprise package ... I never know quite what each flower is going to look like! This year's zinnias range in color from yellow to pink, with lots of shades of orange & red in between!

An unexpected pleasure

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
First of all, this was not quite what I was expecting from this book, and that's a GOOD thing. Although friends I know had rated this highly, I was anticipating it to be rather weak in character development & just so much pap. Instead, I was very delighted to find the characters dimensional & the plot intriguing. The tension isn't of a classic-vampire/overly-dramatic sort, nor is it of a teenage angst variety, but instead it's more an internal struggle of heart versus head, presented in semi-comical & no-nonsense fashion. The author's descriptions are lush without being cloying, and the characters are believable without being stereotypical. I look forward to reading book 2, which is already waiting for me!


View all my reviews.

Gustav remnants visit Chicago

We're getting slammed with rain right now, which we can clearly see on the radar are the remnants of Gustav. If he's still got this much rain, I can't imagine how much got dumped on Louisiana, but I haven't heard any news about it being a problem!

Goodbye Gustav ...

...Hello Hanna! While I am pleased that Gustav doesn't seem to have been as dangerous as foretold, it looks like Hanna, Ike, and possibly-to-be-Josephine are going to wreak some havoc for the Caribbean and the Eastern seaboard. Keep your fingers crossed!